New Police Station’s Opening Rescheduled

Officers at the LAPD’s North Hollywood Division have been waiting anxiously to move into their new police station at 11640 Burbank Blvd.

Unfortunately, they may have to wait a little longer.

According to police officials, the opening of the North Hollywood station, originally estimated for October and later announced as Feb. 1, has been delayed until late March.

Recent rainy weather, design changes and damaged building supplies were blamed for the latest delay.

“Feb. 1 has never been an official or unofficial completion date for the North Hollywood station,” said Linda Hogue, LAPD project manager.

“We’ve spent extra time redesigning and rebuilding some interior rooms that on first glance looked good on paper, but were impractical when actually built,” Hogue explained.

According to Hogue, also delaying completion was a shipment of perforated metal wall paneling that arrived with 90% of the panels damaged. The material was reordered.

Construction on the $15.2-million, 37,340-square-foot facility began in October 1994. Since then, progress has been slowed by seasonal rains, occasional miscommunications between the contractor and the city, as well as tight building budgets.

The slowdown may also delay the takeover of the Tiara Street police station by the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks, which intends to convert the station into a senior citizen center and administrative offices in July.

“There have been a lot of changes within the department since construction started,” said Hogue. “We have more patrol officers and detectives working today than five years ago.”

“The new station has to reflect the times, and we want to make those changes while the building is under construction instead of waiting until people move in,” Hogue said.